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Two months after nearly one-third of the city's principals were penalized over poor student attendance, the school system has made marked progress, education officials said at a hearing Thursday called by City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke. In March, interim CEO Tisha Edwards placed 61 principals on "performance improvement plans" or PIPs — usually a precursor of dismissal that can affect end-of-year evaluations and pay raises. They were told to reduce the number of students considered "at risk" of missing more than 20 days of school. The plan drew criticism from the principals union and Clarke, who heads the City Council's education committee, for...

Related "Social Services" Articles

Two months after nearly one-third of the city's principals were penalized over poor student attendance, the school system has made marked progress, education officials said at a hearing Thursday called by City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke.In March,...

As an alternative to a traditional nursing home facility, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has turned to a new program in which those in need of assisted-living care are treated in a more intimate setting.
Medical foster homes place up to three...

Richard Lee Floyd Sr. went to the Southeast Anchor Library on Eastern Avenue on Tuesday, walking on a cane and two prosthetic legs, in hopes of part-time work, something to supplement his Social Security disability check, and occupy his days.
"I...

The pinwheels planted in the flower beds in front of the Harford County Courthouse became a blur Wednesday evening, as strong winds pushed their blades around and around.The pinwheels had been planted there, as they have in locations across the country...

Over the next two weekends, Maryland Championship Wrestling will be holding two events, their annual Bodyslam Austism event, and Xtreme Measures.
I had a chance to talk to MCW owner Dan McDevitt about these events, as well as his views on the good and...

Kevin Brown knew he was hooked on crack cocaine. That was obvious each time he set off on another smoking binge. But Brown says he never imagined that he also suffered from a mental illness until he walked into Baltimore Behavioral Health Inc.
A day or...

The director of a Baltimore children's advocacy center says that in the light of Sarah Foxwell's abduction and killing on the Eastern Shore, people are looking for solutions to one of society's most hot-button issues: child sexual abuse.
"We can...

For Cockeysville businessman Ron Ryba, the long walk from the parking lot to the stadium in Philadelphia was a 29-year trail of memories.
He had come to meet the son he and his high school sweetheart had never dared to look at when they gave him up for...

This should be the best time of year for the Ed Block Courage Award Foundation. A pack of NFL stars are on their way to Baltimore to be honored by the foundation tomorrow and to spend time with abused children. Thousands of eyes will turn to Ed Block...

The annual solicitation letter from Santa Claus Anonymous arrived in the mail the other day, with its trademark depiction of a classic Santa with his hat pulled over his eyes. The iconic drawing, of course, suggests a fundamental tenet of the...

When he picked up the phone at his home in Scottsdale, Ariz., last month, James Joseph Minder realized it was the call he'd been dreading for the past 20 years.
A reporter with the Arizona Republic had an urgent question for the 74-year-old chairman of...

For the past five months, the Baltimore Department of Social Services has been regularly housing children overnight at a downtown office building - allowing them to sleep upright in hard plastic chairs or on thin mattresses on the floor.
The practice is...

Thick makeup camouflaged the bruises on his face, and his Ravens cap covered the injuries on his head.
Surrounded in his small white casket by teddy bears and cards from his playmates, Roy Edward Lechner Jr. was laid to rest yesterday, five days shy...

As Baltimore County investigators take a fresh look at the unexplained death in November of an infant boy whose mother has since been charged in her other son's death, experts say such mysteries can be tough to unravel.
The key to finding answers in...

A woman who lost custody of her children while in a city witness protection program filed a $34 million lawsuit against the Baltimore Department of Social Services yesterday, alleging that her toddler son suffered a fractured skull when he was slammed...

A 25-year-old Dundalk woman whose parenting had drawn the attention of authorities has been charged with child abuse in the death this week of her 3-year-old son, prompting investigators to launch a review of the death of her younger son in November,...

During an intense grilling by legislators yesterday, state child welfare
officials said they're making incremental changes to prevent more child abuse
deaths but added that legal and financial restrictions keep them from acting
more aggressively.
The...

Federal auditors examining Maryland's child welfare system are criticizing
the state for having one of the worst computer systems in the nation for
tracking abused and neglected children.
"Can we find every child in the foster care system? The...

Sierra Swann well knows of the various addictions that play out in the
neighborhood near the corner of Boone Street and East 20th, a grim place where
heroin and cocaine are available curbside beneath the blank stares of
boarded-up windows.
She watched...

In the aftermath of the beating deaths of month-old twins, Maryland's top
child welfare official and Baltimore's chief prosecutor announced yesterday
several proposals they say are aimed at better protecting the city's
vulnerable children.
Secretary of...